Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH) Review: Fees & Staking

ETH holds ether so that its shares follow ether’s price, less expenses, and it adds the staking rewards the trust receives. It holds ether itself and uses no futures contracts.

Shareholders own an interest in the trust. They can hold and trade that security, but they do not control the private keys to its ether.

Benchmark and How to Check Tracking

Since April 1, 2026, ETH has valued its ether using the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark Rate. Before that it used the CoinDesk Ether Price Index. The benchmark sets a daily reference price used to calculate net asset value.

Net asset value, or NAV, is the value of the trust’s assets after liabilities, divided by the number of shares. To judge tracking, compare the fund’s NAV return with the benchmark over matching dates. Staking rewards are paid out as cash distributions, so NAV alone understates what a shareholder earned. To see what staking added, compare total return, including distributions, with the NAV return.